Association between vitamin D levels and central adiposity in an eastern Africa outpatient clinical population

Abstract

Background: Eastern Africa is a vast area straddling the Equator at roughly between latitude 18° North and 25° South of the Equator. This region enjoys overhead or near overhead sunshine throughout the year receiving an estimated 200-275 W/M2 of UVB annually. It is a region undergoing rapid socio-economic changes and thus impacting change in work habits and environment from the outdoors to the indoors. There however exists a dearth of vitamin D3 data on people in this region despite the recognition of vitamin D3 deficiency being a global epidemic. The purpose of this study was to examine the status of vitamin D3 and central obesity in this clinical population and their relationship if any. Results: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in this clinical population in Eastern Africa, females had lower serum concentration, with the younger population having lower serum concentrations than the elderly. There was also a significant difference in serum levels when data was analyzed by ethnicity. Similarly central obesity was also highly prevalent in this population. The odds of being Vitamin D deficient was 3.3 times (p = 0.022) higher among individuals with elevated waist circumference than those with normal waist circumferences. Among the males, the odds of being Vitamin D deficient and having an elevated waist circumference was 6.8 times (p = 0.011) higher than for males with normal waist circumferences. This was however not observed among the females. Methods: Serum 25(OH)D, Waist circumference (WC) and Waist to Hip ratio (WHR) data on 182 outpatients attending a Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes was retrospectively analyzed by gender, age category and ethnicity. Conclusion: Living on or close to the equator and having overhead or near overhead sunshine throughout the year in and of itself is not a guarantee of adequate serum 25(OH)D concentrations. It may therefore be prudent for clinicians in this region to risk stratify their patients based on work location, age category and ethnicity. © 2013 Landes Bioscience.